


Souls

by MissOverlord



Category: Puyo Puyo (Video Games)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Blood and Injury, Loss, M/M, Possible Character Death, change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22039081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissOverlord/pseuds/MissOverlord
Summary: Life on the continent has been getting more and more dangerous, lately, with troublesome beasts both mundane and magical encroaching on towns and villages in the less populated areas. Still, it's good business for traveling mages and the pay's excellent.Warnings from spooked townsfolk aside, how difficult could vanquishing one mid-sized dragon-ish monster be for a team like theirs?
Relationships: Klug/Sig (Puyo Puyo)
Kudos: 20





	1. Failure

**Author's Note:**

> Set around twenty years in the future and life... isn't like it used to be. In media res.
> 
> ... And yes, twenty years in and Sig still uses his dumb-cute petname for Klug. He's probably not going to outlive it. Will this go anywhere? Who knows! I was in a mood and I thought it was decent, so here..?

“S-sorry,” Klug spluttered, each breath requiring more and more effort, “I… I think I s-screwed u-!”

A violent cough tried to clear his lungs, but there wasn't much point judging by the vibrant red that speckled his hand as he pulled it away from his mouth. _That's… that's really not good, is it?.._

Mismatched eyes brimming with tears, Sig was trying to help, trying to stem the flow from the wound by keeping pressure on it, however pointless with the obvious internal bleeding. The restorative abilities of his blue magic were limited to small things. All it could really do was knit the wound’s surface and numb the pain…

“Sig,” he feebly reached out and tried to smile, but it came out a bloody grimace as he rasped, “th-this… it’s my fault. So don’t… make that face. Seeing you cry… don’t want that to… be my last memory of you.”

_Last?_ That just made the half-demon more desperate, knowing that his friend, his companion, his _lover_ was actively resigned to the inevitable. This couldn't be, this couldn't happen, this _couldn't_ end this way. They were supposed to be together, supposed to protect each other… supposed to love each other. He didn't want to lose Klug, regardless of whose fault this whole stupid mess was. He just wanted his sweetheart to be okay… but that wasn't going to happen.

“ _Klug, Bunny,”_ Sig squalled, wanting to hug the scholar but fearing what that would do to his broken and rapidly exsanguinating body, “don't, _can’t_ give up, please, _please_ don't..!”

Another vicious fit of coughing made it obvious that the mage didn't have a choice in the matter. “Hey, C-Cuddlebug, it’s okay. Doesn't… doesn't hurt anymore. Know I’m a t-total mess, but please… can you hug me? Feel cold…”

“..! _B-Bunny!!_ ” Wailing even louder, making his own ears ring in pain, the half-soul tried wrapping himself around his companion, too fearful that moving him would k-... would k-ki…

Disappointed that he couldn't feel his lover's body heat, but aware of being embraced nonetheless, it made Klug feel more at peace with his situation. He tried to calm his sweetheart down, hushing the man he loved so he could speak, “hey, hey… it’s okay. Y’ wanna know what happens… when a celestial magician passes away?”

“N-no. Don't. Never wanna…”

Ignoring the protest, he snuggled as well as his shattered frame would allow, a grin on his crimson-streaked face as he continued, “th-they say… they become stars. S-so I won’t leave you, okay? I… I love you, Sig.”

Already struggling to keep his heart from breaking, Sig’s snapped in two. Desperate to keep the love of his life aware, awake and above all _alive_ , he nudged the bookworm's bloodstained cheek, the hot tears clearing away some of rapidly oxidizing red. Lifelessly, he croaked, "can't... d-don't... _please_."

Klug didn't answer. His fluid-filled lungs were still struggling, still trying to take in air, but there just wasn't enough to keep him conscious anymore.


	2. Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are no guarantees.

“C-can't handle this. Just c-can't…”

_Agreed. I don't want this, either._

“Helpless… tried, but can't help, can't do anything. Don’t wanna lose him. Don’t wanna!”

_… I know. He loves you, loves us._

“Don't want him to die…”

_The curse of a finite existence. What's born, dies. You’re not immune._

“... You are.”

_… To a point. Please, don't…_

“Can you? Would it..?”

_I don't know._

“Please…”

_There are no guarantees. Then, what happens to you?_

“Might… might not be so bad.”

_It might be. You may… may also…_

_“He’s_ dying. I… might be okay. It’ll be okay.”

_If it's not… it's trading one broken heart for another._

“Have to try! Please, _please_ try…”

_… If you're sure…_

Though the ‘conversation' inside the demi-demon’s head seemed to last an eternity, it took seconds to complete.

Reluctantly, the demon’s soul that normally dwelled dormantly inside of Sig so deeply it was practically part of him pushed to the surface. It wasn't used to this, wasn't used to having control. Dizzy, it blinked, both its body’s eyes a softly glowing crimson. _So, so weird._ It was happy with how things usually were, curled up in the back of Sig's mind like a dozy cat watching the world go by, quiet unless something seriously threatening happened or the ‘black' form manifested. ‘Black' was more a blending of their shared consciousness, making a nearly seamless whole, a whole that, if the blue soul did as Sig asked, would be lost forever. Once its connection was severed, it ‘burnt out’, so to speak. It couldn't go back, even if it wanted to. That loss… it would hurt.

It… wasn't sure what would happen to Sig, either. There was a lot of haziness around the edges of its memory, but usually it only changed hosts under duress, out of fear. Had it _ever_ left a perfectly healthy host? Even so, it would be hard on the body… losing the strength, resistance to illness and, most pressing in this case, the superior healing properties it possessed.

...That was, in part, why it had become part of Sig so early. Without its strength, the newborn who became the bug hunter never would have survived. Its previous host… was lost in the process.

Looking at the rapidly fading form in its arms hurt. Though it didn't get to interact with the mage much directly, it still liked the human. To see the being its other half loved so much like this, drowning in his own blood… it was painful. _Poor thing,_ it lamented, looking over the dying celestial mage.

It had to decide. _Now_.

If it didn't, the situation would resolve itself.

And… Sig would be heartbroken. _It_ would suffer the pain as well.

Allowing dark miasma to swirl and gather, its features started to darken, its eyes radiating vivid scarlet.

_You won't suffer much longer,_ it sighed, nuzzling the unmoving body’s hair soothingly. _It’ll be over soon._


	3. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It... it had to be, right?

“Ggh!”

Klug woke up coughing, covering his mouth with his sleeve to avoid spraying spittle everywhere. The familiar sensation of adrenaline coursing through him, making his heart flutter… a nightmare? They’d been less and less common since he’d become involved with Sig. For some reason, just being close to the guy helped him feel at ease.

Ugh, the taste in his mouth, though… he must’ve bitten his tongue or something. Given how potent the metallic taste was, with its heavy iron undercurrent, it must've been oozing for some time. Disgusting, but at least it was _his_ blood. There was a distracting achiness all through his body, he noticed. Great, he must be coming down with something, too, off season but with how much traveling he and his partner had been doing, it wasn't a _great_ shock.

He coughed again, eyes wearily blinking open as he groaned, examining his sleeve which felt extraordinarily heavy for just a little plasma and saliva.

He _froze._

Stiff. Though a small portion was fresh, wet, leaving the fabric pliable, most of it was discolored, rigid with brownish stains. Some of it crackled and came away in a fine powder.

The nightmare, the one about his idiotic impetuousness, the one where he’d been gored by an irate dragon-like creature that had been plaguing a remote township, the one where he died in his best friend and longtime lover’s arms…

“S-Sig?..” Barely a whisper, ending in another round of spasmodic coughing, the crimson starting to fade to translucent pink, he groaned, swiveling his head around, looking for-

“ _S-Si~ig?!_ W-what did… did you…”

Everything… everything was wrong. Crumpled at the increasingly panicked mage’s side, coat stained with more brownish viscera that had presumably come from the magician’s now-absent wounds, “S-Sig…”

Sig… didn't look right. Immediately, Klug noticed how empty the entomologist’s sleeve looked, reddish claws no longer protruding from the cuff like they should have been. There was a hand, at least. A still, half curled human fist. His mind screamed, unable to find the words to vocalize, ‘what did you _do_?!’.

It didn't look like the blue mage was moving, but with the jacket it was hard to tell. Hesitantly, Klug held his breath, trying to keep in at least some of the tears threatening to blot out his vision as he reached out, hoping that his fears wouldn't be a reality. Creaking like a broken hinge, he softly squeaked, “please, _please_ don't be dead, Sig I c-can't… _please_..!”

Cold. Cold, at least for Sig, but there _was_ a pulse present beneath Klug’s fingers. Shallow breaths puffed onto the surface of the scholar’s hands. Unresponsive, but alive. “What… what did you do?.. What did you do to yourself..?”

He didn’t know what to do. In the pain-filled haze that served as his memory before awakening, his partner didn’t seem to be hurt, but he was hesitant to rely on that alone. Sig was the one who knew about triage, how to tell if it was safe to move someone and not make their situation even worse.

The hostile reptilian beast that caused his injury was a non-issue, at least. Though he’d wounded it himself before becoming, well, incapacitated and useless, he’d seen his partner reduce it to an acid-laced non-entity. _Funny_ , he thought, _I once asked what the hell kind of magic ‘blue’ was_. Unlike his medley of celestial laced with the dark arts which had an offensive focus, Sig’s was versatile and generalist, even if it lacked raw power in any one area.

… Well, unless the guy worked in concert with the fragment of a demon’s soul that dwelled inside him. That always left him feeling drained, though. He’d probably used that to empower the aci-

Klug’s blood chilled as he began to suspect.

All he could do was wait.

Wait, and worry.

_“Sig…”_


	4. Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... Or, more accurately, relocated.

_Weak._ It’d been forever since the blue mage had felt like this, not since he’d mastered using his ‘black' form… although it didn't matter anymore, did it? The little blue soul which had been a part of him for almost his entire _life_ … it was gone.

But… if it was gone, that meant…

Trying to stir, he blinked slowly, trying to focus. The vision on his left-hand side seemed… off. _Too soft_ , he frowned, but soon forgot upon spotting a familiar clover-green eye staring down at him, the edges laced in tears.

“ _S-SIG!!_ H-how do you- are you-” Klug couldn't seem to finish a question before stammering out another, let alone let his partner answer _any_ of them.

_Yep, still normal Klug,_ the bug lover wanted to chuckle, but settled for a small smile as he shut his eyes… which sent his lover into a panic.

“Y-you're not..! Sig, _Sig,_ don’t fall asleep! You might not-!”

Sig just kind of stared for a moment, slowly blinking as a weary but genuine smile formed, he gave his lover's hand a weak squeeze. “ _Concussions_ , sweetie. Just… just tired. So, _so_ glad… thought you'd…”

“I’m okay, Sig, but you… what happened?! Your hand and… and your eye… they're both… well, _normal._ ” Unashamed, the celestial mage let his tears fall, holding his beau’s hand against his cheek. The prospect of losing his other half… it scared him more than dying himself. Ironic, given the circumstances.

Sig gave a strained, apologetic look as his thumb brushed beneath his sweetheart's left eye. “Sorry. Couldn't ask since... yeah. Doesn't look bad…”

“What’re you… talking… a-ab…” It finally dawned on him. Sig’s eye, the red one, the one that glowed in complete darkness… _he_ had it, didn't he? A low moan rose in the back of his throat, not sure how else to respond to… well, _anything_.

“Doesn't look bad,” the sleepy-eyed… _whatever_ he was now… repeated, trying to comfort his lover, “you’ll be okay.”

“ _S-SIG_!! D-do you have any… I mean what does… for you… what if?!” Starting to panic, Klug winced, seeing stars as he hunched over his fallen companion.

“Bunny, _Bunny_!“ Grabbing Klug’s tattered coat in his hands, trying to pull himself up while he spoke as firmly as he could muster between wheezes, “have to... calm down. Might hurt yourself, reopen the wound. K-kinda… were pretty bad.”

_Stating the obvious,_ Klug groaned, ceding to his companion's judgement and helping the struggling blue mage sit up. He wasn’t dying anymore, but he _was_ tired and incredibly sore. In a soft monotonous voice, he sighed, “pretty bad is putting it lightly. I… I thought I _died_ , Sig…”

“Mmhm. Would've.” Not sugar-coating anything, the entomologist leaned into his friend, wanting to be close to the loved one he’d almost lost. Still, he _had lost_ something, something he couldn't get back. _Think about it later_ , he grumbled, shoving the distressing concept away. _He_ wasn't in danger of reopening any serious wounds if he pushed himself. This was a perfect situation to exude that odd sense of calm he was infamous for, almost as infamous as the arm-

_Don't think about it_ **_now_** _._

Freaking out or not, Klug couldn’t refuse his partner's unspoken demand to be hugged, even if the tremors refused to stop. Sig _knew_ what he’d done was incredibly dangerous _and_ potentially fatal. So why? _Damned fool_ , he hissed, _it was my fault that I…_

“I… Sig, I don't want to lose you. If I did-”

“-You’d keep living,” he interrupted, the warm rumble in his throat undercut by how dry it felt, “would want that. Same for me. Had to try, though.”

Politely coughing, the stellar scholar tried to change the subject. “S-so, how… how do you feel? Apart from being worn out. That's obvious…”

It was… _difficult…_ to explain just how strange it was, how vacant the corner of his mind felt without his constant companion. “Kinda… empty. It didn't ‘talk', but was just… _there_. It felt _warm_ , now it's… it’s gone.”

“Take it back, then. Once I’m healed up, can’t you just?..”

“No,” Sig shook in head, trying to hold back his tears for his friend's sake, “said it wasn't possible. Can’t. Just… can't.”

“But, Aya and I-”

“ _Swapped_. Weren't _together_. Weren't… weren't one _being_.”

‘Weren't, being the operative word. Discussing Ayashii, the book-bound demon that formed the blue soul’s other half… it was still a sore spot for Klug, especially.

The celestial magician just supported his long-time partner, unable to offer any help or words of wisdom. He was a scholar, dammit, and a fine one, but there were _still_ matters that were beyond him, arcane or otherwise. In his youth he’d had _so_ much trouble admitting that to himself, now it was almost comical…

“Hey, Klug?” The blue mage murmured, trying to hide his face as he clutched at his partner's coat, “does this… do… do I not have a soul now?”

_That_ caught the book lover off guard even before he noticed the silent tears rolling down his gloves. Without a second thought, he drew his sullen companion to him, ignoring the dull pain in his midsection the pressure caused. He cooed soft reassurances, nuzzling his love’s cheek, “honey, even if you _didn't_ , you’re still _Sig_ , still the man I love.”

“But… but what if-”

“Besides,” Klug interrupted, a smirk on his bloodied lips, “you were born at least _half_ human. You should still have that. I… I wouldn't be worried about it.”

“Guess so,” he mumbled, trying to take in his lover's reassuring scent and finding it difficult. _Probably the blood and… and tissue,_ he figured, realizing what a miserable mess they both must look.

“I… I feel like a jerk for asking this, but do you think you can walk right now?” Klug winced, suspecting he already knew the answer before his friend's head shook.

“F-feel like a hatched larva,” he murmured, fussing with a stained bag lashed around his waist, “don't really wanna, but have to eat something, rest a little…”

“Hey, maybe I could carry-”

“ _No,”_ Sig snapped, shoving a water flask in the dark magician’s face, “open your wound trying. C’mon, rinse the blood outta your mouth.”

Trying to lighten the mood, Klug chuckled as he got the container open. “A near-death experience and you won't kiss me because of a little excess plasma? You’re so _cruel_ to me, Sig…”

Raising an eyebrow, Sig grabbed the snarky idiot by the shirt collar, wiped away the blood and saliva using the edge of his sleeve and pulled Klug into a full, lingering kiss before resuming his rummaging. Part demon or no, he’d never had a taste for blood. “Happy now? Thought eating’d be hard with that iron taste…”

“Very, yes, and I’m glad to see you acting like yourself…”

“Hrm?”

“Anytime someone's injured or ill you always take charge,” the battered mage grinned, his newly-mismatched eyes squinting as he chuckled, “and get a little bossy.”

“Terrible at taking care of yourself. Someone has to.” Grumbling, Sig gnawed disinterestedly at the calorie stick. It left a weird film in his mouth and tasted like stale, over-sweetened bread that had been compacted by a vise but in a pinch, it qualified as food. Anything to ease the boneless, drained feeling he currently suffered was welcome.


	5. Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What led up to this, anyway..?

"Why?"

It was a fair question, honestly. Just why _had_ the dark celestial magician proceeded without his partner in the first place? Cringing as he nibbled at the technically edible bar the blue mage had forced into his hands, Klug groaned softly. Though he wasn't being chided by his partner, he _still_ felt like a guilty child caught in the aftermath of an incredibly foolhardy act.

… _That's basically what's happened,_ Klug sighed, turning his face away from the non-judgemental blue eyes that curiously regarded him. That Sig wasn't mad, wasn't _angry..._ it almost made it worse.

"I… knew you had misgivings about this whole… m-monster dispatching thing. But, ah, y-you know how I am…"

With a snuffly chuckle, the entomologist swallowed the last of his snack and softly teased. "Proud? Confident? Stubborn..?"

"Y-yes..!" Klug stammered, finding it difficult to shake his old verbal tic after his traumatic but needless experience. "All three. But… I also worried about, well, _them._ This… this township isn't exactly 'vital', and with h-how many _other_ places are being threatened… how long would it take to summon someone _else_ to deal with that creature? How many more p-people would 'disappear'?"

"... Mm. Were just passing through," Sig murmured, leaning into his partner's stained cloak with a sigh. "'S the only reason… they were _scared._ Hard t' say no."

"You… didn't change your mind, then? W-why did you… you _leave_ then?" It wasn't an accusation, but… it had been strange. They'd split up, Sig mumbling about 'wanting to check' something and leaving the scholar alone and confused at the forest's edge. The partial demon had been gone for so _long,_ he'd figured the peaceful soul had gotten cold feet and… just abandoned him.

Even now, the bug expert wasn't the greatest at communicating, sometimes. He'd either figure the other party already understood or… he'd get distracted and just _forget_ to bring things up. It wasn't malice or stupidity, it was just how his mind _worked._

"... Oh. Thought you knew. Sorry, Bunny," the cyan-haired mage muttered, wondering how he'd neglected to say. "Um, y' say research is important, so… wanted t' do some."

Raising an eyebrow, Klug repeated, "'research'..? Why alone, though? Honestly, Sig…"

With barely a pause, Sig carried on speaking. "Hard enough t' talk to 'em _alone,_ and people're all tense… they get _scared,_ Klug."

_"Who_ gets scared?"

"Onion pixies. Terrified people'll blame 'em. Or eat 'em. Both..? Talked to 'em." For some reason, the little creatures didn't usually mind Sig's presence. One even had a crush on him long ago for… reasons. He smiled softly… he _still_ didn't get it, and probably never would.

_Oh._ That… made sense to the blood-spattered bespectacled one. Considering Sig had the rare talent of being able to _understand_ the rowdy little sentient vegetables, having a second party present would've complicated things. _If you'd just told me,_ he lamented, unwilling to voice his frustrated thoughts and place the mantle of blame on his lover's drooping shoulders. It wasn't Sig's fault that he'd pushed onward to confront the bloodthirsty reptilian by himself.

"Did… did they say anything interesting..?"

Sig… nodded, his fingers digging into his sweetheart's sleeve as he tried to speak, pitched high as though he were about to break into tears again. "Y-yeah. Why th' dragon was so _mad,_ so territorial. She, u-um," he squeaked unhappily, "s-she had a _nest,_ Klug. 'Splains a lot…"

… A nest? So, it-ah, _she_ was… was defending her young. The academic's stomach twisted, unsure of-

"Doesn't make it right," Sig whined, offering up a comforting nuzzle as though he could sense the conflict tugging at his partner's conscience. Wearily, he mewled, "hurt a lot of people. _Killed_ some… tried to kill you, too. Had to stop…"

"The nest, though, I-I mean-" Slaying a grown monster with a taste for blood was one thing, but leaving a creche of creatures, even dangerous ones, to potentially _starve_ to death was too cruel t-

"'S okay," the somnolist murmured, nestling in his loved one's arms, "aren't hatched. And, _mh,_ hurt a lot of pixies, too. 'Ll destroy it, now that it's unguarded."

"I… I don't t-think I want to do this again. H-hunting monsters… it's _hard._ What's your opinion, Sig..?"

The only answer he received was the soft breathing of his exhausted companion, the bug catcher's weight slumped against his aching body. With a small smirk, he ruffled his lover's soft hair and smiled, fairly certain what Sig's answer would be.


End file.
